John J. McDermott (philosopher)

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John Joseph McDermott (January 5, 1932 – September 30, 2018)[1] was an American philosopher and a professor at Texas A&M University. He was a distinguished professor at Texas A&M since 1981 and held the Melbern G. Glasscock Chair in the Humanities.

Biography

McDermott was born in New York City to John J. and Helen Kelly McDermott.[2] He was the first of eight children in a lower-middle class family.[3] He earned an undergraduate degree in 1953 at St. Francis College. He went to Fordham University to complete a master's degree and a Ph.D. in 1959. (Dissertation title: "Experience is Pedagogical: the genesis and essence of the American nineteenth century notion of experience"). He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Union Theological Graduate School. McDermott joined the faculty of Queens College, City University of New York, where he stayed until he took a position at Texas A&M University as philosophy professor and department head in 1977.[4]

At Texas A&M, McDermott called the school's first faculty meeting in 1983. That meeting resulted in the formation of the school's faculty senate and McDermott was the group's first speaker.[3] That year he won a Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching from the university.[5] He founded the College of Medicine's Humanities in Medicine Department, and he was the department head from 1983 to 1990.[1] In 2012, McDermott was named the founding director of the school's Community of Faculty Retirees.[3]

A focus of McDermott's work is the connection between American philosophy and culture. He compiled and introduced volumes of writing by William James, Josiah Royce and John Dewey.[6] He was president of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy from 1978 to 1980[7] and of the William James Society in 2001-2002.[8] In 2016, he was awarded the society's first Lifetime Achievement Award.[9] He was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Montessori Society in 1980.[2]

McDermott died on September 30, 2018. He is survived by his second wife, Patricia,[10] and five children from his first marriage. McDermott was very involved in Alcoholics Anonymous, and when he died he had been sober for 30 years.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Philosophy professor John J. McDermott remembered as conscience of Texas A&M, top in his field
  2. ^ a b c "In Memoriam John J McDermott". amshq.org. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Blackwell, Monika (October 16, 2014). "A tapestry of woven tales: The legacy of John J. McDermott". Texas A&M Today. Texas A&M University. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  4. ^ Shook, John R., ed. (2010). "McDermott, John Joseph". The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 9780199754663. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  5. ^ "Distinguished Achievement Award winners". Texas A&M University. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  6. ^ Lachs, John; Talisse, Robert B. (2008). American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 492. ISBN 9781135948870. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  7. ^ "Officers". Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  8. ^ "Annual Meetings". William James Society. 29 January 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  9. ^ "News: 2016". William James Society. 3 February 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  10. ^ "Distinguished Texas A&M professor John McDermott dies at 86". The Eagle. September 30, 2018.
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